Showing no concern for the dissenting voices over his continuing tinkering with the legislations invoked by the previous popular governments, the Governor Satya Pal Malik recently reversed one of the historical decisions of the previous Mehbooba led government on relaxation in stamp duty for women in Jammu & Kashmir state only to show that he can display his brute authority on scrapping even popular decisions of a popular government irrespective of the criticism and condemnation from political parties and civil society groups in the state. Surprisingly the Governor did not both to respond and react to the public criticism over the withdrawal of the Mehbooba Government’s decision on stamp duty for women in the state even after the state unit of the BJP openly criticized him for withdrawing a popular decision of popular government concerning women. Roll back of the popular decisions of the previous popular governments shows the intents of the Governor on restoration of popular rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Had the Governor intents of showing respect to the popular decisions of the previous popular government he won’t have tinkered with the legislations against whims and wishes of the people not once but dozens of times in last six months. In fact the standards of political neutrality demand no tinkering with the legislations by the governor in the absence of a popular government but Governor Satya Pal Malik has broken all the previous records in tinkering with the legislations invoked by the previous popular governments. Had he been concerned about the political neutrality of the state’s highest constitution office in the absence of a popular government, he won’t have said that PDP is the only party opposed to simultaneous conduct of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.
Denying the withdrawal of his order on stamp duty for women or delaying it for the reasons of his political conveniences would only erode the credibility of the highest constitutional office of the state but it won’t stop the next popular government from restoring the decision of the Mehbooba government on stamp duty for women.
Knowing that first woman chief minister of the state had taken a decision to offer concession on stamp duty with proper application of mind the Governor should not have reversed the decision merely for having ideological or personal differences with the first woman chief minister of the state who also heads Peoples’ Democratic Party. After the criticism of his order on stamp duty for women that reversed Mehbooba Government’s decision by even the critics and rivals of the Peoples’ Democratic Party the Governor should not have wasted even a second in withdrawing his order issued by him without taking into view the ramifications of withdrawing this popular decision of a popular government. Denying the withdrawal of his order on stamp duty for women or delaying it for the reasons of his political conveniences would only erode the credibility of the highest constitutional office of the state but it won’t stop the next popular government from restoring the decision of the Mehbooba government on stamp duty for women.
